"It is not a question of education, not a question of instructing the mind in old or new mathematics, or old and new physics. It is knowing how to awaken the man that lies asleep within the soul of the child." (Maria Montessori)

Island Village Montessori School and our associated programs are designed to provide a child-centered, community-oriented education, rooted in the scientific teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori. Although our preschools are funded by private tuition, we work hard to keep our tuition among the lowest for area Montessori schools.

Beginning in the Fall of 2006, IVMS early childhood programs will participate in the Voluntary Pre-K for four year-olds, a new State program that provides approximately $2,500 tuition scholarship per child. There is no tuition for our elementary and middle school programs. All age- appropriate children of Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte County residents are eligible to attend.

Our academic programs offer a uniquely prepared, individualized educational environment that emphasize the intellectual and humanitarian development of students who are self-disciplined, cooperative, responsible, and creative thinkers of the community as well as the world.

All IVMS classrooms are multi-age, which creates a community setting within the classroom. Older children mentor younger and younger children rely on and learn from older students as well as the adults in the classroom. This independence fosters a sense of self-reliance necessary for success in the adult world.

The School's pedagogical philosophy is based on the premise that excellence in education requires an extraordinary commitment on the part of the family, school, and community members. The central focus of this compact is the belief that families are ultimately responsible for their child's growth and development. Families are asked to give at least 20 hours of volunteer time per school year. There are many ways to volunteer at our school, especially if it is difficult to get a day off from work. Research shows that children do better in school the more the family gets involved.

Montessori teachers are trained to keenly observe, diagnose, and facilitate an individual education plan for each learner that is cooperatively developed by both teacher and child. The Montessori curriculum is a developmentally appropriate, experiential learning system that facilitates a sense of mastery and accomplishment.

• To facilitate a well-rounded, comprehensive curriculum that instills a sense of wonder about the universe and the child's place within that universe.
• To implement an individualized, child-centered curriculum that includes movement, manipulation, and discovery within a multi-age classroom community.
• To extend the classroom out into the larger community, creating a web of exchange among community members, family, and school staff.
• To provide a nurturing and safe environment, supporting the child's physical and emotional well-being, as well as intellectual experimentation and growth.
• To provide a free or affordable Montessori education to children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• To facilitate a well-rounded, comprehensive curriculum that instills a sense of wonder about the universe and the child's place within that universe.
• To implement an individualized, child-centered curriculum that includes movement, manipulation, and discovery within a multi-age classroom community.
• To extend the classroom out into the larger community, creating a web of exchange among community members, family, and school staff.
• To provide a nurturing and safe environment, supporting the child's physical and emotional well-being, as well as intellectual experimentation and growth.
• To provide a free or affordable Montessori education to children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The simplest level of education is to acquire organized information and knowledge by means of memorization. This is the least durable because information acquired by this method can be forgotten; retention is largely based on short-term memory retrieval, the ability to memorize, and requires well-formed habits of repetitive performance to succeed.

The second level of education is to develop intellectual skills by means of coaching exercises and supervised, daily practice in reading, writing, speaking, listening, calculating, conserving, measuring, as well as exercising critical judgment. This level of learning enables students to pass examinations requiring reasoning, problem-solving, and creative thinking skills, rather than simply recalling an arbitrary pattern of information.

The highest level of education is to increase understanding by using critical questioning, active participation, and Socratic dialogue. These types of discussions can be formal or casual but always involve critiques and analyses of books (not textbooks), articles, oral readings, as well as works of visual art, drama, and music. This level is the most durable form of learning and is only possible if the student is fully engaged in the learning process. If students are encouraged to use their own interests as the key to engaged involvement with the subject matter, they work ambitiously, take greater responsibility for their endeavors, care deeply about their studies and are able to remember and apply what they have learned.

Although Dr. Montessori recognized that all three types of education are necessary, it is especially, she felt, this last type that is imperative to the development of the adult within the child. Dr. Montessori believed that the teacher's job was to emphasize the RELATIONSHIP between things rather than the things themselves.

Through recognition of the fundamental relationship between all things, the true key to knowledge could be provided. In the third level of education, the student's interests become of paramount importance. The teacher becomes a facilitator of research rather than lecturer of facts; (s)he becomes a direct link between the student's curiosity and the world.

Montessori students have a reputation for being critical and deep thinkers, who can organize research projects in order to find their own answers. They are unafraid to be leaders, entrepreneurs, scholars, and visionaries. They march to their own drummers, yet do not require that others follow.

Montessori students embrace other cultures and are curious rather than judgmental or fearful. Our students value the earth and the environment, understanding their responsibility in maintaining a healthy planet for everyone to enjoy. They share a curiosity for science, geography, and culture that carries them into future studies and careers. They develop a love of learning that never leaves them, long after their days of schooling have come to an end.

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